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Rio de Janeiro - the World’s “most beautiful city”, murder rate second only to Cape Town and one of the most extreme divisions of wealth on Earth. Famous for it’s beautiful beaches, beautiful mountains and beautiful people, this hedonistic hot-spot attracts millions of tourists every year, luring them in with promises of sun, sea and sex and an attitude to carnal desires that surely makes it the Devil’s choice for Winter vacation.

When Gaspar de Lemos first discovered what he thought was the bay to a mighty river, the natural beauty of the jungle-clad mountains halo-ed with golden beaches soaring out of the sparkling, sapphire sea inspired him to exclaim in awe, “So God does exist!”. Much has changed since then as Rio became hot property and businessmen and politicians sought their fortunes from high rise buildings and tourism, cutting down huge swathes of the jungle and building in whatever space the creases of the landscape allowed.

But maintaining Rio’s image has long been a top priority for the Brazilian government despite the extensive deforestation; it appears half of the population has been hired as street cleaners for example, and every night you can watch the huge beach combing operations on Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon. The efforts to maintain the postcard facade don’t stop at picking up litter however; in the past decade they have extended this sanitation project to the poor, not by trying to bridge the rich/poor gap, but by simply moving the poor out of the city / out of sight, out of mind, as it were.

Hundreds of thousands of people occupy numerous shantytowns known as favellas that cling to hillsides of Rio, enjoying some of the best real estate in the world rent-free. The irony of this is not missed, nor is it enjoyed by the owners of the fantastically expensive apartments over-looking the main beaches that are in turn overlooked by the favellas. These favellas are also the base for the many gangs that control the drug trade, and are pretty much responsible for Rio’s reputation as a violent city.

So, freeing up valuable property, reducing crime, removing eyesores - the government has many reasons for wanting to remove these favellas from Rio, unfortunately none of them are concerned with the people who have made them their home. More occupied with profit, they ignore the fact that people live in favellas because they can not afford not to and, as ever, only a small minority are involved in the gang culture which causes so many problems; they ignore the fact that this is the hardest working demographic in the city, and they ignore the fact that it is the rampant corruption in the Police and the vested interests of politicians that allow the gangs to exist.

Turning a blind eye to all this because it’s easier and more profitable, they have bulldozed several favellas and relocated the inhabitants to housing projects away from the city, away from the scrutinizing eyes of the tourists, and most damagingly, away from the jobs. The infamous Cidade de Deus (City of God) was one such project.

The biggest irony in all of this is in attempting to keep the tourists coming, they are removing an up-and-coming tourist attraction – Favella Tours! It seems there is no end to what people will pay to do and now the adventurous, the curious and the just plain ignorant are paying upwards of $40 to sit in an open back jeep and go on a safari tour to look at poverty. You are driven around the favella of choice, watching the favella dwellers in their natural habitat, and being careful not to disturb or provoke them. There is generally a photo op’ where you are allowed out of the jeep, but not away from it, presumably to ensure a safe retreat should one of the Alpha Males try to eat you!

Adventure tourism has been the fastest growing niche in the travel market for a while now, catering for those looking for something different, desperately clambering to get off the beaten track and away from the camera snapping crowds and rather false looking ‘authentic’ tourist traps. Are they fueled by the same desires that fed those intrepid explorers who sailed and trekked and climbed over the Earth in search of new lands and new life? Maybe they’re after a new stamp in their Personality Passport to show off to their peers, or perhaps they’re just curious and want to see what else is out there. Who can say?

These walking wallets and the entrepreneurs who seek to cater for them have created jungle lodge experiences and eco-tours, there are even places where you can pay for the privilege of working for 8 hours a day. There have been controversial cases of previously un-contacted tribes being turned into sort of Jurassic Park exhibitions, and soon Richard Branson is going to boldly take you where no civilian has gone before.

But surely this is voyeurism gone too far? I mean what’s next? Elephant rides through the Darfur refugee camps? Tank trips into Baghdad? Of course if any of the money were actually going into the community, or if the guides tried to give a realistic impression of what life is really like there, instead of some claptrap designed to impress rather than inform, then there might be a place for this kind of thing. As it stands, regardless of any good intentions on the part of the tourist, there is not.

It is said that fear is the greatest threat to freedom, well it appears for those occupying Rio’s favellas there is no escape from it: constantly aware of the menace of the drug dealers, the terror of the police and the power of the government, they now have to endure the humility of having rich Westerners gawking and pointing and taking photos of their dirty laundry hanging defiantly above the dusty streets.

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